Tim Burton often thrives on blurring the lines between fairy
tale and reality, but whereas with Edward
Scissorhands the fairy tale bursts into a world of Americana as an alien
force, here the two sit side-by-side, almost undifferentiated.
The story is of Edward Bloom (Albert Finney/Ewan McGregor),
a teller of tall tales who is coming to the end of his time. His son, however,
has tired of the blatant exaggerations and falsehoods that his father still
tells. Over the course of Edward’s last days, the story of his life is recounted,
strange and fantastical in its nature, but as his son, Will (Billy Crudup),
investigates his father’s life, he discovers that there may be more truth in his
father’s stories than he suspected.
